Ellen DeGeneres sued for mocking woman's name on show

CHICAGO, June 8 (UPI) -- Ellen DeGeneres is facing a lawsuit over a joke she made on her show mocking a woman's name.

Coldwell Banker real estate agent Titi Pierce is suing DeGeneres for using a real estate sign with her name on it in a segment called "What's Wrong with These Ads... and These Signs" and pronouncing Pierce's name as "Titty" while displaying the Coldwell Banker sign, the New York Daily News reported.

"Prior to defendant's misdeeds, Ms. Pierce has been called only by her name 'Titi,' which, as grammar dictates, is pronounced 'TEE TEE,'" a lawsuit filed in a Georgia court last week said.

The suit went on to explain that the name Titi means "flower" in Nigerian.

The comedian mispronounced Pierce's name just after showing a sign that read "Nipple Convalescent Home."

"Titty Pierce, sounds like she might have spent some time in that nipple home, I don't know," DeGeneres told a laughing audience.

The suit claims the Georgia woman's personal cellphone number was displayed during the segment, after which she began getting harassing calls.

Pierce said she was on her way to a funeral when the DeGeneres segment aired and she began receiving the mocking cellphone calls, TMZ reported.

"The name-calling led to immediate ridicule and raucous laughter from the show's live and television audiences," Pierce's suit said.

She said she has suffered emotional distress and anger as a result of the joke.

Pierce, a Robins Air Force Base engineer from Warner Robins, Ga., is also suing Warner Bros., which produces the Ellen DeGeneres Show, legalmedia.com reported.